Police workforce

Published 29 January 2021

Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• at the end of March 2020, 92.7% of police officers were White and 7.3% were from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic backgrounds

• 4.3% of senior officers were from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups combined, compared with 2.8% in 2007

• between 2007 and 2020, the percentage of police officers from every ethnic minority group went up – the biggest increase was for Asian police officers (from 1.5 to 3.1%)

• at the time of the 2011 Census, 86.0% of people in England and Wales were White and 14.0% were from other ethnic groups

2. Things you need to know

What the data measures

The data shows the number and percentage of people working for the police who come from different ethnic groups. It covers the 43 police forces in England and Wales, and the British Transport Police.

The data comes from a snapshot taken on 31 March every year.

Percentages are based on 'full-time equivalent' (FTE) staff numbers. For example, someone who works 2.5 days a week has an FTE of 0.5.

Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place.

The figures on this page are based on Home Office police workforce data – this is where you can find the first release and most up-to-date data.

Not included in the data

The data does not include staff whose ethnicity was not known. In 2020, this was:

• 2.6% of police officers
• 3.4% of the total police workforce
• 8.2% of special constables

The ethnic groups used in the data

Police officers and staff in England and Wales report their own ethnicity based on the following 5 aggregated ethnic groups:

• Asian
• Black
• Mixed
• White
• Other ethnic group (including Chinese)

Methodology

Read the detailed methodology document (PDF opens in a new window or tab) for this data.

Population estimates come from the 2011 Census. You can read more about how we use Census data.

3. By ethnicity (police officers)

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2020
• Source: Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2020

Percentage and number of police officers, and percentage of the overall population (at 2011 Census), by ethnicity

Ethnicity	% of police officers	% of population	Number of police officers (FTE)
Asian	3.1	6.8	3,884
Black	1.3	3.3	1,586
Mixed	2.2	2.2	2,711
White	92.7	86.0	116,536
Other including Chinese	0.8	1.7	993
Unknown	N/A*	N/A*	3,400

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Police workforce By ethnicity (police officers) Summary

The data shows that:

• White people made up 92.7% of police officers at the end of March 2020, and 86.0% of the general population at the time of the 2011 Census

• Asian people made up 3.1% of police officers, and 6.8% of the general population

• people with Mixed ethnicity made up 2.2% of police officers, and 2.2% of the general population

• Black people made up 1.3% of police officers, and 3.3% of the general population

• people from the Other ethnic group made up 0.8% of police officers, and 1.7% of the general population

4. By ethnicity over time (police officers)

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2007 to 2020
• Source: Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2020

Percentage and number of police officers by ethnicity over time

	Asian		Black		Mixed		White		Other including Chinese		Unknown
Time	Asian % of police officers	Asian Number of police officers (FTE)	Black % of police officers	Black Number of police officers (FTE)	Mixed % of police officers	Mixed Number of police officers (FTE)	White % of police officers	White Number of police officers (FTE)	Other inc Chinese % of police officers	Other inc Chinese Number of police officers (FTE)	Unknown % of police officers	Unknown Number of police officers (FTE)
2007	1.5	2,111	1.0	1,350	1.0	1,419	96.1	134,372	0.5	632	N/A*	1,999
2008	1.6	2,231	1.0	1,371	1.1	1,525	95.9	134,000	0.5	656	N/A*	1,920
2009	1.7	2,472	1.0	1,427	1.2	1,699	95.6	135,651	0.5	689	N/A*	1,839
2010	1.8	2,607	1.0	1,446	1.3	1,844	95.3	135,293	0.5	745	N/A*	1,799
2011	1.9	2,582	1.0	1,442	1.3	1,838	95.2	130,870	0.5	754	N/A*	1,625
2012	2.0	2,607	1.1	1,420	1.4	1,871	95.0	125,579	0.6	766	N/A*	1,858
2013	2.0	2,563	1.1	1,361	1.5	1,865	94.9	121,086	0.6	749	N/A*	1,961
2014	2.1	2,665	1.1	1,352	1.5	1,922	94.7	119,071	0.6	776	N/A*	2,124
2015	2.2	2,795	1.1	1,373	1.6	2,028	94.4	117,757	0.6	785	N/A*	2,079
2016	2.4	2,881	1.2	1,433	1.7	2,096	94.1	114,437	0.7	808	N/A*	2,411
2017	2.6	3,104	1.2	1,432	1.8	2,185	93.7	112,953	0.7	841	N/A*	2,616
2018	2.7	3,266	1.2	1,424	1.9	2,309	93.4	111,506	0.7	852	N/A*	3,048
2019	2.9	3,476	1.2	1,493	2.1	2,473	93.1	111,710	0.7	889	N/A*	3,148
2020	3.1	3,884	1.3	1,586	2.2	2,711	92.7	116,536	0.8	993	N/A*	3,400

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Police workforce By ethnicity over time (police officers) Summary

The data shows that:

• between 2007 and 2020, the percentage of police officers from each of the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups went up

• the biggest increase was in the Asian ethnic group, where the percentage of police officers went up from 1.5% to 3.1%

5. By ethnicity and area (police officers)

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2020
• Source: Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2020

Percentage and number of police officers, and percentage of the overall population (at 2011 Census), by ethnicity and police force area

	Asian			Black			Mixed			White			Other including Chinese			Unknown
Geography	Asian % of police officers	Asian % population	Asian Number of police officers (FTE)	Black % of police officers	Black % population	Black Number of police officers (FTE)	Mixed % of police officers	Mixed % population	Mixed Number of police officers (FTE)	White % of police officers	White % population	White Number of police officers (FTE)	Other inc Chinese % of police officers	Other inc Chinese % population	Other inc Chinese Number of police officers (FTE)	Unknown % of police officers	Unknown % population	Unknown Number of police officers (FTE)
All - excluding BTP	3.1	6.8	3,884	1.3	3.3	1,586	2.2	2.2	2,711	92.7	86.0	116,536	0.8	1.7	993	N/A*	N/A*	3,400
Avon & Somerset	0.4	2.1	10	0.4	1.9	11	2.4	1.8	63	96.5	93.3	2,489	0.3	1.0	7	N/A*	N/A*	224
Bedfordshire	5.6	13.2	68	1.1	4.8	13	3.2	3.0	39	89.9	77.5	1,095	0.2	1.4	3	N/A*	N/A*	44
British Transport Police	4.5	N/A*	129	2.4	N/A*	70	2.9	N/A*	82	89.8	N/A*	2,582	0.4	N/A*	12	N/A*	N/A*	90
Cambridgeshire	1.4	4.9	21	0.8	1.3	13	2.0	2.0	31	95.4	90.3	1,456	0.4	1.6	6	N/A*	N/A*	19
Cheshire	0.5	1.2	10	0.2	0.3	5	1.1	1.0	22	98.1	96.9	1,981	0.1	0.5	2	N/A*	N/A*	68
Cleveland	1.5	3.1	20	0.0	0.6	0	0.5	1.0	7	97.8	94.5	1,273	0.2	0.8	2	N/A*	N/A*	23
Cumbria	0.3	0.6	3	0.3	0.1	3	0.5	0.5	6	99.0	98.5	1,187	0.0	0.3	0	N/A*	N/A*	22
Derbyshire	2.2	3.6	40	0.2	1.0	4	1.1	1.4	21	96.3	93.3	1,765	0.2	0.7	3	N/A*	N/A*	17
Devon & Cornwall	0.1	0.7	3	0.2	0.2	6	1.1	0.9	28	98.3	97.5	2,428	0.2	0.6	5	N/A*	N/A*	631
Dorset	0.3	1.4	3	0.2	0.4	2	1.2	1.3	14	98.2	96.0	1,158	0.2	0.8	2	N/A*	N/A*	59
Durham	0.4	0.8	5	0.1	0.2	1	1.1	0.7	12	98.3	97.8	1,120	0.1	0.5	1	N/A*	N/A*	2
Dyfed-Powys	0.2	0.8	2	0.1	0.2	1	0.9	0.6	8	98.7	98.0	885	0.1	0.4	1	N/A*	N/A*	268
Essex	0.6	2.3	18	0.2	2.0	5	2.1	1.6	68	96.8	93.2	3,138	0.4	0.9	14	N/A*	N/A*	56
Gloucestershire	0.8	1.8	9	0.4	0.9	4	1.7	1.5	19	97.0	95.4	1,100	0.2	0.5	2	N/A*	N/A*	42
Greater Manchester	4.9	9.2	332	0.9	2.8	63	2.2	2.3	150	91.4	83.8	6,232	0.6	2.0	43	N/A*	N/A*	46
Gwent	0.8	1.7	10	0.4	0.6	5	0.8	1.0	10	97.8	96.1	1,245	0.2	0.6	3	N/A*	N/A*	38
Hampshire	1.1	3.0	28	0.3	0.9	9	1.2	1.6	31	96.7	93.3	2,503	0.7	1.1	19	N/A*	N/A*	102
Hertfordshire	1.7	5.7	36	0.7	2.8	15	2.2	2.5	46	95.2	87.6	1,961	0.1	1.4	3	N/A*	N/A*	26
Humberside	0.8	1.3	16	0.4	0.5	8	0.6	0.9	11	98.2	96.5	1,920	0.0	0.8	0	N/A*	N/A*	11
Kent	1.2	3.1	45	0.3	1.3	11	1.7	1.6	63	96.5	93.1	3,595	0.3	0.9	12	N/A*	N/A*	56
Lancashire	2.6	7.4	74	0.1	0.4	3	1.9	1.1	54	95.3	90.4	2,722	0.2	0.7	5	N/A*	N/A*	142
Leicestershire	5.1	15.3	97	0.7	2.4	14	2.3	2.0	45	91.8	78.4	1,755	0.1	1.9	2	N/A*	N/A*	66
Lincolnshire	0.5	0.8	5	0.7	0.4	7	0.9	0.9	10	97.7	97.6	1,033	0.2	0.4	2	N/A*	N/A*	10
London, City of	2.7	9.2	21	1.9	2.6	14	2.5	3.9	19	92.8	78.6	702	0.1	5.7	1	N/A*	N/A*	2
Merseyside	0.4	1.4	16	0.5	1.1	19	2.0	1.5	73	96.5	94.5	3,454	0.4	1.6	16	N/A*	N/A*	51
Metropolitan Police	6.1	17.0	1,916	3.5	13.3	1,112	3.6	5.0	1,139	84.5	59.8	26,742	2.3	5.0	732	N/A*	N/A*	558
Norfolk	0.4	1.1	6	0.6	0.5	10	1.2	1.2	19	97.7	96.5	1,600	0.2	0.6	3	N/A*	N/A*	28
North Wales	0.2	0.9	3	0.1	0.2	1	0.7	0.7	10	99.1	97.5	1,486	0.0	0.6	0	N/A*	N/A*	10
North Yorkshire	0.8	1.2	12	0.2	0.5	3	1.1	0.9	16	97.7	96.6	1,435	0.2	0.8	3	N/A*	N/A*	12
Northamptonshire	1.5	3.3	18	1.0	2.4	12	1.7	2.0	21	95.8	91.5	1,168	0.1	0.8	1	N/A*	N/A*	53
Northumbria	0.9	2.7	27	0.1	0.6	2	1.1	0.9	33	97.8	94.6	2,951	0.2	1.3	5	N/A*	N/A*	137
Nottinghamshire	2.6	4.4	53	0.9	2.5	18	2.0	2.8	40	94.3	88.8	1,927	0.2	1.4	5	N/A*	N/A*	29
South Wales	0.8	2.8	25	0.2	1.0	6	1.3	1.4	39	97.4	93.4	2,910	0.3	1.5	9	N/A*	N/A*	24
South Yorkshire	1.8	4.1	44	0.5	1.9	12	1.3	1.5	31	96.3	90.6	2,332	0.1	1.8	3	N/A*	N/A*	15
Staffordshire	1.1	3.2	19	0.5	0.8	8	1.1	1.3	19	97.2	94.1	1,615	0.0	0.7	0	N/A*	N/A*	6
Suffolk	0.6	1.5	7	0.3	0.9	3	2.3	1.7	28	96.7	95.2	1,156	0.2	0.6	2	N/A*	N/A*	24
Surrey	1.5	4.8	28	0.6	1.1	11	2.3	2.1	41	95.1	90.4	1,739	0.5	1.7	9	N/A*	N/A*	100
Sussex	0.5	2.5	14	0.3	0.9	8	1.6	1.9	41	97.1	93.7	2,441	0.4	1.0	11	N/A*	N/A*	203
Thames Valley	1.9	8.5	81	0.5	3.0	20	2.2	2.5	95	94.9	84.6	4,046	0.5	1.4	20	N/A*	N/A*	48
Warwickshire	3.3	4.2	34	0.2	0.8	2	1.2	1.5	12	94.8	92.7	965	0.5	0.9	5	N/A*	N/A*	17
West Mercia	1.0	1.8	21	0.2	0.4	5	1.0	1.1	23	97.6	96.2	2,151	0.2	0.5	4	N/A*	N/A*	15
West Midlands	7.4	18.0	475	1.4	6.0	93	2.5	3.5	163	88.4	70.1	5,702	0.2	2.3	14	N/A*	N/A*	69
West Yorkshire	3.8	12.6	204	0.4	2.1	23	1.6	2.2	87	93.8	81.8	5,000	0.3	1.4	14	N/A*	N/A*	14
Wiltshire	0.7	2.6	7	0.4	0.9	4	0.7	1.4	7	98.1	94.5	973	0.1	0.6	1	N/A*	N/A*	15

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Police workforce By ethnicity and area (police officers) Summary

The data shows that:

• in 2020, the Metropolitan Police had the highest percentage of police officers from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds combined (15.5%) out of all police forces

• at the time of the 2011 Census, 40.2% of people in London were from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic backgrounds

• in the West Midlands, 11.6% of police officers and 29.9% of the general population were from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic backgrounds

• in Bedfordshire, 10.1% of police officers and 22.5% of the general population were from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic backgrounds

• police forces in North Wales, Cumbria, and Dyfed-Powys had the smallest percentage of officers from Asian, Black, Mixed or Other backgrounds (at 0.9%, 1.0% and 1.3%).

6. By ethnicity and rank over time (police officers)

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2007 to 2020
• Source: Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2020

Percentage and number of police officers (FTE) by ethnicity and rank (2007 and 2020)

	Asian				Black				Mixed				White				Other including Chinese				Unknown
Rank	Asian % 2007	Asian Number 2007	Asian % 2020	Asian Number 2020	Black % 2007	Black Number 2007	Black % 2020	Black Number 2020	Mixed % 2007	Mixed Number 2007	Mixed % 2020	Mixed Number 2020	White % 2007	White Number 2007	White % 2020	White Number 2020	Other inc Chinese % 2007	Other inc Chinese Number 2007	Other inc Chinese % 2020	Other inc Chinese Number 2020	Unknown % 2007	Unknown Number 2007	Unknown % 2020	Unknown Number 2020
Chief Officer	2.0	4	1.5	3	0.5	1	0.0	0	1.0	2	0.5	1	96.6	196	98.0	200	0.0	0	0.0	0	N/A*	3	N/A*	27
Chief Superintendent	1.3	6	2.0	6	0.6	3	1.3	4	0.6	3	2.3	7	97.2	456	94.1	285	0.2	1	0.3	1	N/A*	0	N/A*	12
Superintendent	1.0	10	1.7	15	0.8	8	1.0	9	0.5	5	1.8	16	97.4	954	95.5	864	0.2	2	0.1	1	N/A*	8	N/A*	32
Chief Inspector	1.0	18	1.8	31	0.5	10	0.7	12	1.2	22	1.5	25	97.2	1,778	95.8	1,623	0.1	2	0.2	3	N/A*	18	N/A*	38
Inspector	1.0	72	2.3	128	0.5	36	0.7	38	0.7	49	1.6	91	97.5	6,790	95.0	5,253	0.2	16	0.4	21	N/A*	69	N/A*	123
Sergeant	1.1	235	2.2	412	0.8	179	0.8	151	0.7	162	1.6	288	97.0	21,026	94.9	17,493	0.3	65	0.5	99	N/A*	283	N/A*	384
Constable	1.6	1,766	3.3	3,289	1.0	1,113	1.4	1,373	1.1	1,176	2.3	2,283	95.7	103,172	92.1	90,818	0.5	546	0.9	868	N/A*	1,618	N/A*	2,785

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Police workforce By ethnicity and rank over time (police officers) Summary

‘Senior officers’ include Chief Officers, Chief Superintendents, Superintendents and Chief Inspectors.

The data shows that:

• between 2007 and 2020, the percentage of constables who were from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds went up from 4.3% to 7.9%

• between 2007 and 2020, the percentage of inspectors who were from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds doubled (from 2.5% to 5%)

• at the end of March 2020, there was a higher percentage of constables from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds (7.9%) compared with senior officers (4.3%)

7. By ethnicity and gender over time (police officers)

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2007 to 2020
• Source: Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2020

Number and percentage of police officers by ethnicity and gender (2007 and 2020)

	Female				Male
Ethnicity	Female % 2007	Female Number 2007	Female % 2020	Female Number 2020	Male % 2007	Male Number 2007	Male % 2020	Male Number 2020
Asian	1.2	402	2.08	818	1.6	1,709	3.55	3,065
Black	1.1	359	1.17	462	0.9	991	1.30	1,124
Mixed	1.2	393	2.03	801	1.0	1,026	2.21	1,910
White	96.1	31,463	94.03	37,028	96.1	102,909	92.10	79,508
Other including Chinese	0.4	130	0.69	271	0.5	502	0.84	723
Unknown	N/A*	371	N/A*	940	N/A*	1,628	N/A*	2,461

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Police workforce By ethnicity and gender over time (police officers) Summary

The data shows that:

• at the end of March 2020, there was a higher percentage of male police officers from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds (7.9%) than female officers (6.0%)

• between 2007 and 2020, the percentage of male police officers from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic backgrounds went up from 3.9% to 7.9% – the percentage for female officers went up from 3.9% to 6.0%

8. By ethnicity and role (whole workforce)

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2020
• Source: Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2020

Percentage and number of people in the police workforce, by ethnicity and role

	Police Officer		Police Staff		Community Support Officer		Designated Officer
Ethnicity	Police Officer %	Police Officer Number of staff (FTE)	Police Staff %	Police Staff Number of staff (FTE)	Community Support Officer %	Community Support Officer Number of staff (FTE)	Designated Officer %	Designated Officer Number of staff (FTE)
Asian	3.1	3,884	3.5	2,249	4.7	417	3.2	153
Black	1.3	1,586	2.1	1,355	2.9	255	2.7	129
Mixed	2.2	2,711	1.2	772	1.5	133	1.7	80
White	92.7	116,536	92.5	59,264	89.7	8,024	91.7	4,399
Other including Chinese	0.8	993	0.6	408	1.2	111	0.8	39
Unknown	N/A*	3,400	N/A*	3,154	N/A*	240	N/A*	330

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Police workforce By ethnicity and role (whole workforce) Summary

The data shows that:

• the percentage of people from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds working as police officers (7.3%) was lower than for all other roles

• 10.3% of police community support officers were from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds, the highest percentage out of all types of paid role

9. By ethnicity (special constables only)

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2020
• Source: Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2020

Percentage and number of special constables, and percentage of the overall population (at Census 2011), by ethnicity

Ethnicity	% of special constables	% of population	Number of special constables (Headcount)
Asian	6.1	6.8	535
Black	1.8	3.3	161
Mixed	2.3	2.2	203
White	88.2	86.0	7,748
Other including Chinese	1.5	1.7	135
Unknown	N/A*	N/A*	789

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Police workforce By ethnicity (special constables only) Summary

Special constables are unpaid volunteers and with no fixed hours. The figures count the total number of special constables regardless of whether they worked part-time or full-time.

The data shows that:

• 11.8% of special constables were from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds, a higher percentage than for any other role

10. Data sources

Source

Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2020

Type of data

Administrative data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Home Office

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

Ethnicity and gender data is used by police forces as part of diversity monitoring schemes.

11. Download the data

Police workforce data 2007 to 2009 - Spreadsheet (csv) 10 MB

This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, sex, police force area, role, value, population estimates

Police workforce data 2010 to 2012 - Spreadsheet (csv) 10 MB

This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, sex, police force area, role, value, population estimates

Police workforce data 2013 to 2016 - Spreadsheet (csv) 14 MB

This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, sex, police force area, role, value, population estimates

Police workforce 2017 to 2020 - Spreadsheet (csv) 14 MB

This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, sex, police force area, role, value, population estimates

Publication release date: 29 January 2021

full page history

1. 29 January 2021 Updated with the latest available data. Moved all contextual information to ‘Things you need to know’ and new subsections.

From: Home Office

Previous editions:

1. 28 August 2020
2. 14 May 2019
3. 29 June 2018
4. 28 February 2018

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